Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has claimed that Peter Obi no longer enjoys the level of support he received in the South-East during the 2023 presidential election.

Wike made the statement during an interview on TVC News’ *Journalists’ Hangout* on Monday, while discussing the political landscape ahead of the 2027 general elections.

“No longer now. What we know now, Obi does not have it. I won’t have it in this, and that’s the truth of the matter,” Wike said.

Obi contested the 2023 presidential election on the platform of the Labour Party and won several states in the South-East, finishing third nationally behind Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Wike attributed part of Obi’s performance to the political strategy adopted by the G5 governors, a group he led alongside Seyi Makinde, Samuel Ortom, Okezie Ikpeazu and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi.

According to Wike, the group sought to prevent Atiku, the PDP presidential candidate at the time, from gaining an advantage in some regions.

“How did he win? We in the G5, we said we have a strategy,” Wike said.

He said Rivers State was treated differently because of concerns over the political implications of an Obi victory there.

“It was only Rivers I said no, we have a problem here in Rivers, Obi will not win here because if he wins, he sends a signal somewhere they may not understand it,” he said.

Wike also cautioned against judging a candidate’s electoral strength solely by the size of political rallies.

“If you are using based on the fact that there are rallies, then you are making a very big mistake,” he said.

On the 2027 election, Wike said political actors should not assume that the dynamics of the 2023 election would be repeated.

“It does not matter how you abuse me. It does not matter how you abuse me. But the truth of the matter is that for this election, leave it for Tinubu. Prepare for 2031, and that’s the truth of the matter,” he said.

Obi has since left the Labour Party and joined the New Democratic Congress (NDC), where he is expected to seek the presidency in 2027.